Top News: Simkiss starts slow and gets a bit quicker at the Midlands XC Champs.

Following complaints of high electricity bills from fans trying to read MCKEP athlete Rich Simkiss’s race reports in their entirety, Simkiss attempts to write a brief few words on today’s exploits at Newbold Commyn in the 2014 Midlands XC Championships:

I started at a reasonable, speed, possibly a bit slower than I should have, possibly not.
I instantly regretted not sourcing 15mm spikes and using the 12’s I had sat in my kit bag.
I fell on my arse coming down beacon hill on lap 1, sliding a good 10-15m… Sadly not entirely in the right direction and losing me ground to Phillip Gould.
Wasn’t sure if I’d catch Gould or Siggers, but Siggers faded and I caught him on the last lap.
Weather was insane, cannot remember a thunderstorm like that in years.
Had a nice battle with Seb Palmer of RNAC over the last lap, he passed me on the approach to the finish but I got my gurn on and thunder thigh’ed my way past him in a perfectly executed sprint finish.
Satisfied with performance, getting a good few scalps, but should really be higher up the field.

Non competing McCarthy took on the role of photographer for the day, though such changeable conditions were not conducive to producing his usual art gallery worthy masterpieces, and he had to rely on the ‘auto’ setting.

Somewhat scared and confused by the flashes of lightning paired with the immediate deafening thunder, McCarthy found solace in a large hi-vis coat; because Hi-vis makes you safe. Always.